Monday, 27 February 2017

I've been waiting for the sun to show its face today. I wanted to take a photo, of the best bit of mail from last week, and it's finally obliged.

You might remember I made one of these rabbity hares a couple of years ago. I bought a kit from Cool Crafting to make Luna. She was destined for my daughter, but I gifted her to a dear friend of mine, who was having a tough time, instead.

High time I made another then. There is now a book, including patterns for lots of lovely clothes as well as the rabbit. Luna has an extensive wardrobe of dresses, tops, skirts, a warm wool coat and a pair of boots, not to mention some very cute pyjamas. Alternatively you could make Alfie with jeans, shirt and waistcoat.

I made good progress on Saturday evening, while the boys were at the cinema and my girl worked on a story board project. I took the opportunity to catch up on a couple of episodes of Quarry. It's set in the 70s and tells the story of a returning Vietnam veteran. It has a great soundtrack and Damon Herriman is outstanding.

Waving to Sian and the Mondayers while the rain lashes against my window. The sun didn't last long around here. Have a great week.

Friday, 24 February 2017

I'm not a great lover of sandwiches. I prefer soup or falafels for my lunches during the week. Another favourite is these mini frittatas. They are super simple to make, quick to cook and will keep for several days in the fridge, if they last that long. Other members of the family have been known to pilfer them for a late night snack.

Firstly chop a selection of veggies. Here I've used a red pepper, half a dozen spring onions and a handful of chestnut mushrooms.

Divide them into a greased 12 cup muffin tray and crumble a cube of feta on top.

Beat 8 large free range eggs in a jug, season and pour over the vegetables.

Bake in the oven at 180 for about 25 minutes, until puffed up and golden on top.

Leave to cool for a few minutes and firm up a bit, before removing from the tin.

Wednesday, 22 February 2017

We're getting back into our term time routine here, which means the kitchen table has seen no crafty action this week. I've been doing a bit of hand sewing here and there, which doesn't require any setting up. Clearing away only involves throwing the hexies back in their bag and can be done at the drop of a hat.

Sticking with the Lift Me Up stamp set, I paired it with Timeless Textures to build the background. I like the contrast between the clean white base and the balloons stamped on kraft card. Lifting them with foam pads for depth. I inked the sentiment stamp selectively, with a marker, to get the part of it I wanted for this card.

For the final card, I stamped in the same ink as the first. Using different card stock has changed the colour of the balloons quite dramatically. The background square is cut with a stitched framelit and stamped with the Watercolour Wash background. Another favourite of mine for a quick and effective result.

There you have it. Four quite different cards from the same stamp set. I like to show the versatility. Which is your favourite?

Linking up with Julia and the Deskers, before I head out in the dark. Hoping the lighter mornings are not far off now.

PS The card that I was working on last week is here for those that asked to see it.

Monday, 20 February 2017

The best bit of mail from last week was this second hand Beignet pattern I bought. If you read Alexandra's post last Monday, you'll know that not only is it the name of a button front skirt by Colette, but also a delicious looking deep fried treat, not unlike a doughnut. I'm looking forward to making something a bit more challenging.

Waving to Sian and The Mondayers, while enjoying the last day before the school runs begin again. Have a great week.

Saturday, 18 February 2017

I've not written one of these posts in a while. A few things conspired to prompt me into it. Several people asked to see the finished card from Wednesday's post so I shared it on Instagram. It's quick and simple to do that and gets an instant reaction. I appreciate that not all my readers are fans and I'm putting it here for you.

It's also easy to respond to questions on IG. All too often I get asked something here and try to reply only to find the person is a "no reply blogger". Sometimes I will visit that person's blog to answer the question, but I don't always have the time and I don't like ignoring people. Instagram is a far more interactive experience I find.

Once I'd shared my card, I had a quick browse through my Insta feed and saw Sian's post about Clutter and White Space. It struck a chord with me as one of my class ladies was not keen on the card above. She didn't like "all that empty space" and proceeded to fill it with more clouds. That's fine with me. I want everyone to be happy with the cards they take home and White Space is not everyone's thing.

With that in mind, I try to make a variety of styles from any given stamp set. The layout of the balloons is exactly the same as in the previous card. Here I've paired them with Timeless Textures to build up the background and give a vintage look. We made four cards in this class and I'll share the other two on Wednesday.

As you can see I'm a fan of both "Clutter" and "White Space". How about you?

Wednesday, 15 February 2017

Things were happening at the kitchen table yesterday. Prepping for class this morning. Cutting and scoring blanks for 32 cards and packing all the supplies.

We'll be inking up a brand new set of stamps and I've chosen colours that I usually wouldn't put together. I think it worked. It's all too easy to reach for the tried and tested and get stuck in a rut. Here's to breaking out.

Linking up with Julia and the Deskers before I head out this morning. It's Half Term here so that means 9am instead of 7am, which is a bonus. Happy Wednesday.

Monday, 13 February 2017

Sian has given a new spin to her Monday posts. This year she's suggesting we give our readers a peek at any interesting post we might have received during the week.

I've drawn a blank until today.....

.....when this little beauty was delivered into my hands at 7.30 this morning.....

.....and just like that the postal drought came to an end.

In other news, the insurance company finally paid out and I have a new car. The newest I've ever had in fact, at only 8 years old. Still missing my little red Clio, but gradually getting used to her replacement. I'm glad it's Half Term this week and I'm not having to travel the road where the accident happened. A much needed break.

Wednesday, 1 February 2017

February. Here you are already. January feels like a total write off, along with my poor little car. First "school run" of the year and some eejit (in the wrong lane) drove into me exiting a roundabout. We were uninjured but extremely shaken and I'm not quite over it yet. My crafting and blogging mojo has definitely taken a backseat.

When I saw that our desk sharing antics had reached their 400th instalment, well, I couldn't miss that, could I?

This was actually the state of play, at the kitchen table, last Wednesday. Preparing for the class I taught today. That strip, stamped with flowers, is the outer part of a little treat holder. I'm hoping to put together a tutorial so cross your fingers for an end to these grey days. They play havoc with photographing anything that has a white background.

Linking up with Julia and the Deskers this afternoon. Happy Wednesday to you.